regarding slacks.

does anyone understand how hard it is to find perfection twice in a lifetime?

fall 2003: i was shopping for slacks to wear on my lds proselyting mission. i didn't know exactly what i was looking for at the time, although i had been a fan of slacks for some time. i was going by feel--what felt nice, what felt strong, what felt easily wrinkleable (yes, you can feel that in a fabric). i was looking at style--cuffs on the legs, change pocket within the front right pocket, buttons on the back pockets, single button flag under a zipper fly (yes, i'm very particular). finally, i found what felt "right". it's hard to explain, but i knew that these were the pants i wanted. they were originally $75, but on sale for $35. i bought two.

december 2005: i had spent the last two years wearing these two pairs of slacks almost EVERY day and they still looked as good as new. the only damage to the pants at all came from getting my pants leg stuck in a bike chain and getting a horrible large sliver through the upper thigh. these pants were indestructable, and i wanted more. i set to work right away searching for the same slacks. i searched out the manufacturer--out of business. i found out the company that had taken over--they no longer made that style. i searched for pants made out of the same fabric (polyester/cotton blend)--nobody uses that. i gave up.

december 2008: after 5 years of wearing these slacks almost daily, there were definite signs of wear. although the pants themselves looked great, the cuffs were showing quite a bit of wear. Hundreds of washes had worn the fabric thin in some areas, although you wouldn't notice unless you looked closely. amanda had been searching online for polyester/cotton slacks and actually found some! on sale!! we ordered 3 pairs in my size. when the pants arrived i found out that i had probably put on some weight, while my old slacks had stretched out with me. 30X30 just didn't cover it anymore. we tried to take these pants back to jcpenney to get the next size up, but they didn't have the right size. we called this battle a loss.

april 2009: "i'll take three! i don't even need to try these on!! i'll buy them right now!!!"